The West End Resident
Kirk Truman

Liberty London Designer Department Store

If you enter Liberty’s central atrium and step upon its wooden floor, you can just make out its distinct comforting creak. While its wooden beams tower up to the rooftop, its grand windows nestle within pure white walls – more than a façade, a building or a place, Liberty is a familiar character in Soho. Below the timepiece is inscribed ‘no minute gone comes back again’ and that it shan’t.

Born in Chesham, Buckinghamshire in 1843, Arthur Lasenby Liberty’s first job was at the age of 16 assisting his uncle, a lace merchant. At 19, he went to work for Farmer & Rogers’ Great Cloak and Shawl Emporium in Regent Street. With the experience and acumen he’d picked up from 10 years of service there, in 1874 Arthur decided to become an entrepreneur and start his own business. Having borrowed £2,000 from his future father-in-law, he took over a section of 218a Regent Street and with 3 dedicated staff members set up his business. The store hosted a realm of fabrics, ornaments and objets d’art, with Arthur determined to bring his idea of an Eastern Bazaar to London. His vision proved a success. Within just 18 months the loan was repaid and Arthur soon purchased the second half of 218a Regent Street, as well as neighbouring properties 142–144 which became known as Chesham House, after his birthplace.

Liberty quickly rose to become one of the most fashionable stores in London, forging strong relationships with a variety of British designers. Its Liberty Art Fabrics a notable success, being used for both clothing and furnishings and in the store itself. In the words of Oscar Wilde, a friend of Arthur Liberty’s and one of the store’s first loyal customers, “Liberty is the chosen resort of the artistic shopper.” By 1884, Arthur was creating in-house apparel to challenge the fashions of Paris. “I was determined not to follow existing fashion but to create new ones.” He collaborated with Costume Society founder Edward William Godwin, appointing him director of Liberty’s first ever costume department, a successful venture which would soon feature a clientele as prestigious as the famous Pre-Raphaelite artists.

By the 1920s, Liberty was undergoing a renovation that would become one of its hallmarks. The new emporium was designed at the height of the 1920s fashion for Tudor revival by Edwin Thomas Hall and his son Edwin Stanley Hall. Incorporated into the design, two decommissioned ships; HMS Impregnable and HMS Hindustan. The two ships were up-cycled, making for the mock-Tudor facade we know today. Grade II listed, the frontage of Liberty on Great Marlborough Street is the same length as the Hindustan ship. The father and son duo engineered the design of the store around three light wells that form the main focus of the building. These were surrounded by smaller rooms to create a homely feel. Many of these rooms had functioning fireplaces, with some still visible today throughout the store’s four floors and basement. Though trading continued during the construction, sadly Arthur Lasenby Liberty never saw the finished product. He died in 1917, seven years before the building was completed in 1924.

Today, very little about the mock-Tudor building which we all know and love has changed. And its 4th floor still feels much like a wander through Arthur Liberty’s vision of an Eastern Bazaar: ornaments, carpets and furniture that beguile and comfort in equal measure. ‘No minute gone comes back again’ though Liberty have managed to preserve a time and place true to their founder’s vision.

Contact our sales team

Almacantar

Privacy Policy

This privacy policy sets out how Almacantar Centre Point Construction Limited uses and protects any information that is held by Almacantar Centre Point LP, acting by its General Partner, Almacantar Centre Point GP Sarl. Almacantar Centre Point LP, acting by its General Partner, Almacantar Centre Point GP Sarl is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.

Almacantar Centre Point LP, acting by its General Partner, Almacantar Centre Point GP Sarl may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective from 1 July 2013.

Security
We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we hold.

IP addresses and cookies
For information on how cookies and IP addresses are used on this website, please refer to our Cookie Policy.

Links to other websites
Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

Controlling your personal information
We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so.

CLOSE

Disclaimer

1. The particulars contained in this website are for guidance only. The accuracy of any information in this website is not guaranteed and any prospective purchasers must not rely on such information as statements of fact or representations and must satisfy themselves as to its accuracy. This website has been prepared in good faith and whilst Almacantar Centre Point LP, acting by its General Partner, Almacantar Centre Point GP Sarl and their agents endeavour to ensure that the content is correct and it does not offer any warranty or guarantee of any kind in relation to the accuracy of the content.

The content of this website does not and may not form part of any contract between Almacantar Centre Point LP, acting by its General Partner, Almacantar Centre Point GP Sarl and any prospective purchaser of the properties referred to in this website and may not be treated as a statement or representation of fact. Almacantar Centre Point LP, acting by its General Partner, Almacantar Centre Point GP Sarl and any joint agents shall not be liable to the extent permissible by law from the use by you of the information provided in this website.

2. Annual service charges will be payable.

3. Please note that Crossrail is planned to launch in 2019.

CLOSE

Cookie Policy

Cookies are small text files that are saved to your computer.

This website uses ‘session’ cookies to anonymously remember users during a visit, and are required to enable certain functionality and visual features within the site.

In addition, cookies may be used for website analytics to help us understand how our site is used, which helps us plan improvements to the site.

If you wish to restrict or block the use of cookies on your computer when you visit this website, you can do this through your browser settings, as well as delete cookies already stored on your computer.

For further information on cookies and how you can control how these are used, you can visit www.allaboutcookies.org